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Incumbents in five City Council races won re-election with little difficulty Saturday, as many had expected.

Rey Saldaña in District 4, Ray López in District 6, Elisa Chan in District 9 and Carlton Soules in District 10 all had significant leads over their opponents. Two other incumbents won, but more narrowly: Ivy Taylor in District 2 and Cris Medina in District 7. District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal didn't have an opponent.

In the Southwest Side district, Saldaña overcame challenger, Joseph “JoeJo” Savage, a recently elected South San Antonio Independent School District trustee. With a second term, Saldaña said he'll work to get buy-in from those in his district who haven't trusted City Hall before, expand green space and champion his area's contribution to San Antonio's population and job growth.

Lopez said that while the results “validate what we've been doing for the last four years,” there also are some gaps he plans to address in his third council term, such as the traffic congestion that's “creating a problem” in the Northwest Side district.

He said he'll work with the community to prioritize more than $30 million in infrastructure needs as the council puts together the coming year's budget, and will focus on Pre-K 4 SA.

Chan, who was challenged by Jason Salinas, former council staff, held a strong lead throughout the night to win a third term.

Chan incurred criticism in April, when the council had to re-vote on the purchase of a library site next to her business property. She recovered from that controversy, but has parted ways with Mayor Julián Castro over a proposed revision to council ethics rules.

Chan said she'll “continue to be the independent voice for District 9” and “fight against wasteful spending” while focusing on basic services.

In District 10, Soules handily led challengers Arthur M. Thomas IV and Celeste Montez-Tidwell in a bid for a second term.

Soules initially opposed Castro's pre-kindergarten program, and has criticized plans for downtown streetcars and fought to minimize a SAWS rate increase. Backers have applauded his efforts to revitalize the Perrin-Beitel and Nacogdoches Road corridors.

Soules has been a leading skeptic on the council of Castro's initiatives.